Lecture 2 old english phonology

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Word Stress in OE.
Comparison of PIE, PG and OE vowel
systems.
Qualitative changes within the system
of vowels.
Quantitative changes within the
system of vowels.
The system of consonants.
The main processes within the system
of consonants.

Word stress inherited from PG underwent no
changes in OE.
In EPG the stress was still movable; in LPG it
became fixed on the first syllable.
The OE period was characterized by a system of
fixed stress. The stress was fixed on the first
syllable.
Due to the force of articulation the stressed and
unstressed syllables underwent different
changes: stressed syllables were pronounced
with great distinctness and precision, while
unstressed syllables became less distinct and
phonetically weakened.

In disyllabic and polysyllabic words the stress
fell on the root morpheme or on the first syllable.
Word stress was fixed: it remained on the same syllable
in different grammatical forms of the word and as a rule
didn’t shift in word building as well.
e.g. Nom. Sing. scip (ship), ʹhlaford (lord)
Dat. Sing. ʹscipu, ʹhlaforde
Polysyllabic words, especially compounds, may have had
2 stresses (primary and secondary).
e.g. OE boc-hus (a library)
The verbal prefixes were unstressed
e.g. OE misʹfaran (to mislead),
andʹswarian (to answer),
the nominal, adjectival prefixes were stressed
e.g. ʹandswaru (an answer).

8. Splitting of [a] / [a:] in Early OE PG [a] and [a:] were fronted and, in the process of fronting, split into several sounds. [a] > [æ] in closed syllables; [a] > [o, ã] before a nasal; [a] remained unchanged if it was followed by a back vowel in the nex

Under the influence of succeeding and
preceding consonants some Early OE
monophthongs developed into diphthongs.
If a front vowel stood before a velar
consonant there developed a short glide
between them, as the organs of speech
prepared themselves for the transition
from one sound to another.
The glide together with the original
monophthong formed a diphthong.

The velar consonants were palatalized
before a front vowel (sometimes after
front vowels) unless followed by a back
vowel. OE cild [kild] > [k’ild] (before a
front vowel), OE spræc (speech),
but in sprecan (to speak)[k] was
followed by a back vowel. The differences
between velar and palatal consonants
were not reflected in the spelling.